Neither Attorney General Kris Mayes nor her staff received pardons from President Joe Biden.
In his last day in office, Biden issued preemptive pardons for key members of his administration and the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. Attorneys general, including Mayes, weren’t afforded that protection for their role in prosecuting President Donald Trump’s allies.
Dear Kris Mayes:
No pardons for you and your staff? https://t.co/pDVXMr92lv
— 🇺🇸 Mike Davis 🇺🇸 (@mrddmia) January 20, 2025
Despite Trump swearing into the presidency on Monday, Mayes pledged to continue her prosecution of Arizona’s 2020 electors and certain former Trump staffers and campaign members.
Those indicted were Tyler Bowyer, COO of Turning Point Action; Nancy Cottle, 2020 electors chair; State Senators Jake Hoffman and Anthony Kern; Jim Lamon, 2022 Senate candidate; Robert Montgomery, former Cochise County GOP Committee chair; Samuel Moorhead, former Gila County GOP leader; Loraine Pellegrino, 2002 electors secretary; Greg Safsten, former Arizona GOP executive director; Kelli Ward, former Arizona GOP chair, and her husband, Michael; Christina Bobb, One America News Network and former attorney with Rudy Giuliani; former Trump attorneys John Eastman, Jenna Ellis, and Rudy Giuliani; Boris Epshteyn, 2020 Trump campaign aide and senior member of the 2024 Trump campaign; Mark Meadows, former chief of staff to Trump; and Mike Roman, director of Election Day operations for the 2020 Trump campaign.
Trump was described as an unindicted co-conspirator in the indictment, along with several others.
Last week, Mayes asked then-U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland for the Justice Department’s case files on the 2020 presidential election — those documents beyond the public version making up the 150-page report. Mayes said the files contained “important information” for her case.
An attorney, Mike Davis, vowed to sue Mayes for conspiracy against rights. Garland didn’t provide Mayes with the case files before Trump took office on Monday, all but eliminating the likelihood that Mayes will receive the files.
Davis is the former chief counsel for nominations within the Senate Judiciary Committee and member of the Article III project and Internet Accountability Project.
Biden pardoned retired Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, General Mark Milley; former Chief Medical Advisor Anthony Fauci; and all January 6 committee staffers, congressional members, and the D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before them.
The former president claimed in a statement the pardons of the “dedicated, selfless public servants” weren’t admissions of guilt. Rather, Biden asserted that those he pardoned faced “baseless and politically motivated investigations” for having “done the right thing” under his administration.
“The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense,” said Biden. “Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country.”
Our nation relies on dedicated, selfless public servants every day. They are the lifeblood of our democracy.
Yet alarmingly, public servants have been subjected to ongoing threats and intimidation for faithfully discharging their duties.
In certain cases, some have even been…
— President Biden (@POTUS46Archive) January 20, 2025
Biden also pardoned his family members on his last day in office: his brother, James Biden, and his sister-in-law, Sara; his sister, Valerie Owens, and his brother-in-law, John; and his brother, Francis Biden.